YOUTH SUICIDE IS RISING

AP

Published: February 22, 1987

ATLANTA, Feb. 21—
Young American men from 15 to 24 years old are killing themselves at a rate 50 percent higher than at the beginning of the previous decade, according to a new Federal study.

From 1970 to 1980 the suicide rate for older teen-agers and young adults, both male and female, rose 40 percent, the national Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday.

The increase was fueled by a 50 percent jump in the rate for 15-year-old to 24-year-old men, while the suicide rate for women of the same age increased just 2 percent in the same decade, the agency said.

During the 1980's the suicide rate among young Americans has apparently stablized.

A total of 49,496 Americans from 15 to 24 committed suicide in the 1970's. The suicide rate for young men rose from 13.5 to 20.2 per 100,000, while the rate for young women rose from 4.2 to 4.3 per 100,000. No Explanation Offered

James Mercy of the C.D.C. said researchers have no explanation for the trends. Experts have speculated that increasing family breakups, drug abuse, dwindling job and educational opportunities and the growing availability of guns could be factors, he said.

The most common method of youth suicide in 1980 for both sexes was the gun, the C.D.C. report said. A decade earlier, young women were most likely to kill themselves by poisoning, while young male suicides chose guns.

Overall suicide rates for young Americans fell from 12.3 per 100,000 in 1980 to 11.9 in 1983, then increased to 12.5 in 1984, the latest year for which statistics are available, Mr. Mercy said.

Although suicide rates for both young white and black males rose between 1970 and 1980, whites committed suicide at the the higher rate, Thursday's report noted.